Ocean campaigners around the world will be honouring today, World Ocean Day, with a heavy heart.
The explosion on April 20 on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico is now on track to be one of the worst ecological disasters in history. According to Information is Beautiful, 22,000 cars worth of oil are being deposited into the sea every day. See here for a graphic representation showing how much oil has gushed into the Gulf over the last few months.
The New York Times published an excellent visual map of the spill – press the play button to watch how quickly the oil has spread thoughout the Gulf.
What if the spill happened here in South Africa? To put the disaster into context visit this link , type in your home town to see what size area the oil spill would cover. Here are some aeriel photographs depicting the true scale of the devastation, also from the New York Times.
Secretary-general of the UN Ban Ki-moon said today: “Oceans play a key role in our daily lives. They are integral to sustainable development and an important frontier for research… I urge governments and citizens everywhere to acknowledge the enormous value of the world’s oceans – and do their part in ensuring their health and vitality.”
We echo this statement and urge the world to end its dependence on oil. It is time to move towards a clean energy revolution!
Pictures from Greenpeace
